Burn || Poe Dameron

• Chapter Three - The Chase Through Jakku

"Elyse! Elyse, please wake up!"

The voice I heard didn't sound like Poe's. It made me confused at first when I started to become awake. That's when I remembered everything that happened. The mission, Poe and I being captured, the crash. I shot up quickly from the ground and when I opened my eyes, I was immediately blinded by the light. Finn was crouched beside me and he placed his hand on my shoulder and let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank god. Are you feeling alright?" He asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I asked him as my eyes adjusted. We were in the middle of the desert. There were no life forms anywhere, and I immediately became nervous when I saw that Finn was the only one with me. I stood up quickly and looked all around me.

"Where the hell is he? Where's Poe?" I asked Finn, starting to become scared for my best friend.

He looked at me for a moment before looking at something behind me. Confused, I turned around quickly and saw smoke rising in the distance. Without even thinking, I took off running through the sand. I heard Finn calling for me and trying to keep up with me. My feet trudged through the hot, thick sand as I tried to hold onto hope that my best friend was still alive. When we finally reached the area where the smoke was coming from, a small gasp escaped my lips as I stopped in my tracks. It was the TIE fighter that crashed and Poe was nowhere to be found.

"POE!" I yelled as I ran closer to the ship that was in flames, "POE!"

"Stand back!" Finn said to me. He walked closer to the ship and since his stormtrooper armor was more protected, he didn't get burned by the flames. He looked inside of the ship to see if Poe was still in there, and I could feel tears threatening to spill in my eyes. He grabbed Poe's jacket out of the ship, and quickly case back over to me. My heart felt like it had nearly stopped.

"W-Was he-" I began to ask, but I was cut off when the TIE fighter began to sink into the ground. I grabbed Finn's arm and pulled him back quickly. Tears streamed unnoticed down my face as we watched the ship sink. After a moment, sand shot up from the ground and then it was still and quiet once again.

"I don't know if he was in there or not." Finn said after a moment and I looked up at him.

"What?" I asked him quietly, not processing what he said.

"I couldn't see inside of the ship very well. I don't know if he was in there or not. I'm so sorry. I know that he meant a lot to you." He said to me as he placed his hand on my shoulder.

"He's dead." I said as I tried not to break down sobbing, "He was my best friend, and now he's dead."

"I didn't know him very well, but what I do know is that he was a good man. He cared about you a lot, I could tell. I'm not going to leave you alone out here. I promise you that." He asked me.

I looked up at Finn, and he had both of his hands on my shoulders. I tried to give him a small smile, but it wasn't the best one. My hand flew up to my mouth to try and cover my crying, but Finn quickly pulled me in for a hug. That's when I broke down and sobs began to escape my lips. My mind couldn't even wrap around what just happened. There have been so many times where I saved Poe's life, but this time, I didn't. I couldn't save him. My best friend is actually dead. My heart ached and my body hurt, but I know that he wouldn't want me standing here crying. I had to find BB-8 and complete our mission.

"We have to go find BB-8. That's our next priority. We get him back to the Resistance, and we're one step closer to bringing down the First Order. Poe would want you to help complete the mission." I said as I wiped my eyes.

Finn looked down at the jacket for a moment before holding it out to me, "Here. You should have this."

I shook my head and pushed it back to him, "No, you keep it. You need something to protect yourself from the sun. Too much sun can be bad for your skin, and I don't have anything to take care of you out here. Plus, that thing would be huge on me anyways."